Opposition Check: SpVgg Greuther Fürth

With eleventh place in the 2nd Bundesliga, the hosts are in solid midfield for the upcoming game. However, Greuther Fürth has already had a turbulent phase. After losing 4-0 against 1. FC Nürnberg in front of their home crowd in the Frankenderby, those responsible pulled the rope and fired both coach Alexander Zorniger and sports director Rachid Azouzzi. Leonard Haas took over the team on an interim basis and promptly secured a 4-3 win over Schalke. However, there was a setback in the cup during the week: Fürth lost 1-0 in Regensburg and were eliminated from the DFB Cup.

“It’s nice to be back in Fürth,” said Leonhard Haas when he returned to his old place of work at the beginning of the year – originally to train the Kleeblatt’s U23s in the Regionalliga Bayern. He probably couldn’t have imagined at the time that he would take over as interim head coach of the professional team a few months later. But that’s exactly how it happened: After Alexander Zorniger was dismissed, Haas suddenly found himself on the sidelines in the Veltins Arena at Schalke and celebrated a perfect debut. He led the Fürth second division team to a thrilling 4-3 win against S04.

However, a setback immediately followed in the DFB Cup. Haas‘ team had to admit defeat 0-1 against SSV Jahn Regensburg and thus say goodbye to the competition. How long he will take on the role of head coach is currently unclear. But the people of Fürth plan to continue with him on the sidelines, at least until the winter break.

Haas is no stranger to Fürth anyway. From 2007 to 2011, during his active career as a midfielder, he played in 94 competitive games for the Cloverleafs – he also has twelve goals and 18 assists on his CV. He also collected professional games for Hansa Rostock, Bayern Munich II, FC Augsburg and FC Ingolstadt. As a trainer, Haas worked for Wacker Burghausen and at the Salzburg Academy, among others.

The Lilies should definitely avoid set piece situations against Fürth. The Cloverleafs has already scored seven goals from dead balls and is therefore in second place in the league – only Fortuna Düsseldorf was more successful here. Over a third of SpVgg’s goals to date have come from set-pieces situations, which makes this a particularly dangerous Fürth weapon.

Imagine: At just 18 years old, you are making your professional debut – away at FC Bayern Munich, of all places. You play your first Bundesliga game in front of 75,000 spectators in the sold-out Allianz Arena and face none other than Arjen Robben, who you are supposed to defend. In the end, the Dutchman managed to score, but the game ended in a surprising 2-2 draw. This is exactly how Gian-Luca Itter’s professional career began. Back in the 2017/18 season he was still wearing the VfL Wolfsburg uniform, but today he continues to wear green – but for Greuther Fürth.

Despite a strong debut against Robben, Itter failed to make his breakthrough in Wolfsburg. He has just seven professional games for the Wolves on his resume. He then moved to SC Freiburg, where he only made three professional appearances from 2019 to 2021. The Giessen native only found his luck with the game association in Fürth, for which he has now played 80 competitive games.

As a left-back, the 25-year-old is an integral part of the Cloverleaf’s starting line-up. In nine of the eleven competitive games so far this season, Itter has been on the field, scored one goal and prepared two more. His passing accuracy is particularly impressive: 85 percent of his passes reach his teammate. He also draws attention when it comes to fairness – there is only one foul in his statistics this season.